good info

[sys]

by tee-bone:

A Day with the Wildcats; and the Game with Missouri at Bramlage Coliseum.

Rated: PG-13 -- Some accounts and descriptions, err language has been revised for all the GoPowercat Wabash faithful.

I had the thrill-of-a-lifetime experience to be an honorary coach for the Wildcats’ game on Wednesday night against Missouri at Bramlage Coliseum with fellow Wabashers JasperNewton and 3-D. From beginning to end it was one of the few events in life that ever exceeded expectations.

This comes from a guy who doesn’t cuss and it grates on me like nails on a chalkboard, but after spending almost an entire day with Frank Martin I would send my son to play for him without hesitation. In fact, I would hope he had the fortune of playing for Frank Martin.

He LOVES his kids and wants them to succeed so badly that it unnerves him when they don’t do things perfectly. Nothing in life has ever been given to Coach Martin. He is a blue collar guy who has worked for everything he’s achieved. He has earned it the old fashioned way. Coach expects, err demands the same of his team.

You can tell when players don’t like or respect a coach, but Frank's players really like him -- and the staff -- and respect him. I was amazed at how tight knit the team is. There were no loners or malcontents during practice, at the pre-game meal or in the locker room.

I seriously hope Frank Martin is at K-State for 20 more years. He has no bigger fans than JasperNewton, 3-D and Tee-Bone, even more so after Wednesday.

Pre-Game Shoot Around

3:00 pm -- The guards worked on one end with Dalonte Hill breaking the press from the backcourt. One guard had to try to dribble past two defenders from under the basket to midcourt. The forwards and big men were working on the other end with Coach Underwood on outlet passes against the press and where to be on the court while breaking the back court press.

Coach Martin and Wyatt Thompson were taping coaches’ pre-game show from a couple of seats on the front row in the student section.

3:15 pm -- The entire team assembled on one end and worked on inbounding the ball under our own basket with Coach Martin. They specifically worked on inbounding against the zone and man to man defenses. The starting five players worked a majority of the plays.

3:30 pm -- The team worked on defending Mizzou’s half court offense with Coach Martin, Coach Hill and Coach Underwood. The coaches were quick to point out where DeMarre Carroll would be and what he likes to do, where J.T. Tiller would be, where Matt Lawrence likes to position himself in the half court, how they would attack, etc. The players worked on denying the ball to the post and stopping dribble penetration.

3:45 pm -- The team worked on inbounding the ball under our own basket against the press with all three coaches. Coach Martin was very specific on where each player must be, and where to go on the court after the first pass, second pass and all other scenarios of breaking the press. The players schemed against Missouri’s 3-2 zone press and man-to-man press. One interesting tidbit was Coach Martin telling the team if Mizzou zone presses, they will stay in the zone on the defensive end, if they man press, they will stay in the man.

The guards were instructed where the danger spots are on the court ? specifically the corners -- and where they couldn’t hold the ball to avoid a turnover while trying to pass against the double team.

It was highly enlightening that the “bigs” are so instrumental in breaking the press. They have a specific spot on the court they have to be depending on where the ball is inbounded to. Luis Colon and Darren Kent were involved in breaking almost every press.

A trio of backups drew the ire of Coach Martin for being in the incorrect sports on the floor during one of the drills. Martin wondered, err screamed at them asking how in the heck can he put them in the game if they don’t even know where to be in practice? From a spectator point of view, it was the highlight of practice. It was the game Frank Martin for the first time of the shoot around.

Note 1 -- Curtis Kelly was working on one end of the floor for most of the practice with an assistant coach shooting mid-range -- 10-15 foot -- shots, one after the next, after the next. He is extremely athletic, moves well and has an excellent touch for a young man of his size. He is going to be a definitive instant upgrade in the post next season. Wildcat fans are going to love watching this kid play the next two years.

Note 2 -- I am not sure what kind of workouts Strength Coach Scott Greenawalt puts the coaching staff through, but it must be as extremely intensive as the one he puts the team through. Every coach to a man walks around the court with a limp or like they can’t bend their legs. First Underwood, then Hill, then Martin, then Figger . . . . I know this; I do not want to sign up for Coach Greenawalt’s strength and conditioning class anytime soon.

Names -- Here are the names that the coaches and players call each other.
Jake, Denny, Freddy, DK, Lou, Dom, Jamar, Ron, Chris and Buchi. Curtis Kelly is CK.

4:00 pm -- Coach Martin walked over to courtside and introduced himself to the three of us. “Now you know why I lose my voice,” he said. He knew our names -- I have no idea how or why -- and was quite endearing and genuinely sincere. It was night and day from just 60 seconds ago when he was as demonstrative as I’ve seen him in games at times.

We said to coach, “You’re not going to try to run with them tonight are you?” Without hesitation he said, “Oh yeah, it’s what we do. Once you get by their backcourt press we believe we can get whatever we want down on our end.”

Martin said the players have worked their arses off and he has never faulted their effort or intensity all year in practice. We iterated to him that if we can just get through this season, the program has some big reinforcements coming next year. Before it could even get it out, coach said as confidently as I’ve ever heard him before, “Oh, we will beat this team tonight. We are going to finish this year out strong.”

At that exact time I was thinking he was being naively confident. Coach Martin stayed around and chatted with us for about 10 minutes. I can’t tell you how down to earth and ordinary coach is in a private setting. You can clearly see that his entire life is that basketball team and I believe he could really care less what is going on in the AD’s or president’s offices. He is much like LSnyder in that regard.

You can easily see how Martin has picked up some story-telling traits from Huggs during his years with him. Martin pointed to Chris Merriewether out on the court and asked, “Can you believe he was the valedictorian of his high school? Can you believe that? I told Chris that if that was the case then I am sending all my kids to that school. If he was the valedictorian then my kids will do just fine there.”

Finally, we asked coach if he was going up to the pre-game meal. He said he had to go watch film of Texas so he could set up practice for Thursday.

4:15 pm Pre-Game Meal -- The pre-game meal was catered by Coco Bolo’s in the Legends Room. As the players streamed in they all stopped one by one at a table in the front and signed several schedule posters and basketballs with Sharpies.

The main course was smoked Cajun BBQ chicken breasts, prime rib and parmesan garlic penne noodles. It was an outstanding meal that most players, coaches -- and honorary coaches -- went back for seconds. The meat was so tender that you could easily cut it with the plastic knife and eat it with the plastic fork that was provided. I am definitely getting back to Coco Bolo’s in Aggieville sooner rather than later. It was an incredible meal.

Once/former/current AD Bob Krause was also present for the pre-game meal and looked like the world has been lifted from his shoulders. The coaches sat at one table while the players were scattered across about four tables in the front. Again, the three of us were all amazed at the cohesiveness and camaraderie of all the players and coaches. There is a genuine “family” atmosphere in this program.

7:30 pm -- During the pre-game warm-ups, JasperNewton was joking with Ron Anderson about a little pact they made back at the preseason banquet at Lake Quivira in Kansas City. “You owe us 8 and 8 (points and rebounds), Ron.” He just laughed and nodded his head. “We need 15 out of you tonight,” JasperNewton told DK. Kent came over shook our hands and said he would try. JasperNewton told DK he would have to give us 10 strokes a side if he didn’t. DK laughed and said, “Oh man, I haven’t picked up my clubs in months. I have no idea what my handicap is these days.” We were amazed at how loose the team was just less than 30 minutes before tipoff.

7:50 pm Locker Room -- It is 15 minutes before tipoff and Dalonte Hill is the assistant in charge of scouting this game. He stands in front of a large white board in the locker room with each player sitting at his locker stall. Coach Hill has every Missouri player listed by number -- #1, #4, #5, #33, etc. ? and beside each number listed their strengths, weaknesses and tendencies. One by one he went down the list and called out different Wildcat players who would be in charge of guarding and/or facing them.

“No. 4 likes to drive right. He will not go to his left. Jake, shade him to his right. He likes to dribble penetrate. If you stick him tight he will try to stop and shoot at the top.” A scouting report like this was done for every player by number. No names were mentioned.

When Coach Hill got to No. 33 -- Matt Lawrence -- he said, “If he hits his first shot, he will keep shooting. We have to do a good job of getting on him in the half court.” How prophetic.

When Hill was done reviewing the Missouri personnel scouting report, Coach Martin gathered the team in the center of the room. “We have to cut off their angles to the basket! Hold your positions! They can’t beat you going through your chest,” he said. “We are going to go out and punch them in the mouth. They will back down.”

Martin then shouted, “One, two, three,” and the players all raised their hand and responded, “Team!” As they were exiting the locker room Strength Coach Scott Greenawalt punched each of them in the chest as they passed him, as to say, we are bringing the fight tonight, they are not going to bring it to us.

I had a quiet confidence inside me like I could suddenly sleigh Goliath, jump tall buildings and beat the unbeaten. Not in a “rah, rah” way, but in an “I am built and programmed to destroy you” way. This is exactly how the team walked out of that locker room.

Curtis Kelly was the last one to leave the locker room. He said it is, “killing me not being able to play this year.” Kelly said he is working hard with Coach Greenawalt in the strength and conditioning areas. He also said he loves it at Kansas State and can’t wait to join the team next year on the court. I can’t emphasize enough what a great young man he was in the couple of hours we were with him. I have a feeling he is going to be special.

We took our seats behind the K-State bench and had the added luxury of sitting next to assistant coach Brad Underwood’s younger brother. He was a wealth of knowledge and loves the Cats.

8:05 pm Tip-Off -- As soon as the game tipped off you could see almost everything the team worked on in the shoot around come to fruition. The inbounds plays, breaking the press, where the bigs would go for the secondary pass to break the press, guarding in the half court and attacking their 3-2 zone and man defenses. The game just unfolded like Martin wrote the script and Hill, Underwood and Figger co-authored it.

In Game Notes -- It was about the 10:00 minute mark of the first half and we had already taken three charges. Just like Coach Martin said in the pre-game that they can’t score going through your chest. I believe we took five charges before the game was even 25 minutes expired.

Matt Lawrence swished his first 3-point attempt and he just kept firing up shots behind the arc -- and hitting them -- just like the team was warned. It was easy to pick out each opposing players’ strength, tendencies and weaknesses, just as Hill had scouted. Players that he said don’t like to go to their left, went right about 90% of the time. . . . and Jake shaded him that way.

Denis Clemente got two early fouls. Instead of pouting he went to the bench and was helping direct traffic out on the court and calling out instructions to the players on the court.

Coach Martin drinks a lot of Diet Pepsi’s during the game.

Jamar Freakin’ Samuels. Wow!

It is amazing how much actual playing time the head coach misses while talking to individual players, assistant coaches, substituting, turning and just saying what’s on his mind, etc.

Coach Martin likes to turn and talk to no one in particular during games about players, the action on the court, the defense, the offense, calls, etc. He just likes to turn and say things out loud.

Standing in the tunnel at halftime you could see as Mizzou exited their locker room that they were done. They all had their heads down and had that look of, “Just get us out of here.”

Missouri Coach Mike Anderson’s wife was also in the tunnel at halftime. She looked like she just got done running a marathon. I almost felt sorry for her for a second and then quickly came to my senses. Let’s just say she and her gal pal were not having a good night.

The thrill of the evening was getting to talk to Fitz outside the media room in the tunnel for about five minutes, while waiting in line for the bathroom. Fitz wouldn’t honor our autograph requests, however. He said he doesn’t sign while working.

Freddy Brown was called for a foul with about 6:00 minutes left in the game while backing up and defending in the lane. The Cats were up by about 22 but Martin pulled Brown from the game. He gave Freddy about 30 seconds and then walked down in front of him and said, “Every guy on this team has taken a charge tonight, Freddy. You backed up, didn’t hold your ground and just let your entire team down. You owe every player on this team an apology.” As Martin walked back to his seat, still beet red, Freddy nodded his head slightly like he was in total agreement with coach. . . . and completely understood his point.

Jamar Freakin’ Samuels. Wow!

Coach Martin drinks a lot of Diet Pepsi’s during the game.

What did LSnyder do before he had a BlackBerry? My gosh. That man is a texting machine these days.

With about 3:00 minutes left in the game -- right after the 4:00 minute TV timeout and the Cats up by about 20 -- Martin walked down the bench and screamed at the entire team of reserves, “Next timeout I am just going to let you guys sit and I am going to shut up . . . just go mute. You all don’t listen anyways. Why waste my voice? I just sat here and diagrammed an entire play and you just went out and did your own thing.” The funniest part of Martin’s tirade was he directed it to the bench players and he was upset with the five players in the game. It was classic Martin.

After Martin’s post game radio show with Wyatt, which about 750 fans and students hung around for, he came back over to the bench and thanked us all again. He really didn’t look any different than he did 6-plus hours earlier after the team’s shoot around. He said the team has a fun group of guys and that they are working their arses off every day. Martin again mentioned that we are young, but we will keep growing.

The second best part of the evening, other than whipping Mizzou, was Coach Martin said that since we coached so well that he was having us back to coach the Kansas game. Not sure if he really meant it, but we are holding him to it.

The entire experience was one I will never forget. Short of being an honorary coach for the ku game last year, there couldn’t have been a better night to be in the Bram. We have a great group of kids who you can be proud to cheer for. We have a group of coaches who are working harder than the team to make sure the cupboard is never bare again. It is amazing how hard these men are working for this year, next year, 2011, 2012 and beyond.

You can rest assured that Martin is working tirelessly to bring K-State basketball into a Big 12 power and back into the national spotlight.

And a special thanks to TJ Underwood, his wife and the staff at Willie’s for their post game hospitality.

Proud to be a Wildcat!

Go Cats!

[Lurker]

"The thrill of the evening was getting to talk to Fitz outside the media room in the tunnel for about five minutes, while waiting in line for the bathroom. Fitz wouldn’t honor our autograph requests, however. He said he doesn’t sign while working."


 

[powercatmiller]

No crap the guy just spent a day with KSu basketball and sat behind the bench and his highlight was meeting FITZ outside the crapter

[ksudrew]

No crap the guy just spent a day with KSu basketball and sat behind the bench and his highlight was meeting FITZ outside the crapter

guess he should have italicized that part for you

[sys]

bumping this.  don't want it lost by ut game stuff.

[chum1]

Can someone highlight the good bits?

[The Whale]

Outstanding writeup.  The Fitz part should've been in italics though...

[michigancat]

this is good stuff.

[BigCat]

No crap the guy just spent a day with KSu basketball and sat behind the bench and his highlight was meeting FITZ outside the crapter

Fitz: "Don't go in there." 

[Bookcat]

add that post from someone in the know....


...plus

Curtis Kelley
Rodney McGruder
Wally Judge
Nick Russell
Jordan Henriquez(sp?)

and maybe Cousins??

then, the coaching staff bashers can't suck it...and if they have any better suggestions as for someone to lead our team.... then I am all ears.

[Andy]

great read, thanks.  even more interesting now that we've beaten texas.  i love coach martin's matter of fact confidence.